Keeping Your Hair Shears in Great Condition

As every hairdresser and barber should know, taking care of your hair shears is an absolute must! Now look, we know it's not always convenient to do as often as you need to BUT if you want your hairdressing scissors to last, then be damn sure to maintain them people! It comes as such a shock to us here at scissor tech to know that not all hairdressers and barbers of the world are properly educated on how to maintain their shears to be able to keep them in great condition. So, lucky for you we're here to change that.

What is involved in maintaining your hair shears?

Look, it's pretty straightforward and simple to know what's involved in maintaining your hair cutting scissors. As long as you have your scissor case, scissor oil, cleaning cloth and tension key at hand then you're 100% on the right track to maintaining your hair cutting scissors, but, in true scissor tech style we're going to break it down for you.

• After every use of shears they should be wiped down of all excess hair or residue left on them if not every time at least by the end of the day.
• Oil your scissors after every working day - if not everyday the at the very least once a week
• Keep your shears sharp by sharpening them once every 6 - 12 months (depending on how often they're used)
• Never leave your scissors in any chemicals - this can cause unwanted rusting.
• Never cut anything other than hair with your hair cutting scissors
• When scissors are not in use or are finished being used, always keep them safe in your scissor case to prevent any damage in case of a fall.

If you're able to follow those easy 6 steps then your shears should stay in tip top condition! Not following even just one of those steps can easily shorten the life of your shears. So pro tip - follow those steps!

Why is it so important to maintain your hair shears?

Although we touched on how to maintain your hair cutting scissors, we need to go a little further with this subject of maintaining by going into the cleaning of your best scissors for cutting hair as well. Why? because it's super important to keep them maintained and clean to be able to extend the life of your shears. You don't have to listen to us when we stress how important it is, but we certainly recommend you do listen. When you don't properly maintain your hair shears like we said above, it can shorten the life of your shears due to your shears corroding or producing rust from chemicals or residue, even wet excess hair can cause this! Crazy right!? So WIPE them down!!!

Aside from corroding and rust, you'll need to keep them nice and sharp. Why? again because it will shorten the lifespan of them. Dull or blunt shears can actually cause them to wear done a lot quicker because they have to work harder to be able to cut the hair. Not only that, but it will really hurt your clients head if the shears pull on their hair from the scissors catching on the hair from them being dull, blunt or even chipped.

So clearly by now you realise how important it is to maintain your shears and use nothing else but the proper cleaning methods for your hair scissors!

How to clean your hair cutting scissors?

For those that haven't been educated about how to clean your hair cutting scissors, we have below an easy 3 step guide to how to clean them the correct way.

Step 1: Clean scissors with a clean and dry towel or cleaning cloth provided to remove any excess hair or residue

Step 2: Once clean, open the scissors and oil both sides of the pivot point ( the middle screw area on the blade)

Step 3: Check tension of the scissors making sure they aren't too loose from the fresh oil and clean.

Simple right!? if however for some reason you're struggling to follow those steps, lucky for you, we have a video you can watch here to make it even more simple for you!

Side note - to check the tension of your scissors, the easiest way to do so is to follow these steps as well!

Step 1: Hold your scissors up with the tip pointing to the roof, you will need to continue to hold them this way in the next coming steps

Step 2: With one hand lift one of the handles to open up the blade of the shears to about 90 degrees

Step 3: Release the top handle and let it close freely. If the correct tension is in play then it should close to a 45 degree angle (or half way) if it doesn't, and if it closes too quickly then the tension is too loose and you will need to tighten the tension.

Step 4: To adjust the tension you will need to use your tension key that should be found in your scissor case. Use the key to adjust it by 2 - 3 clicks and repeat step 1 through to 3

Again, simple right!? But if it's not so simple then watch our how to tension video here

While we have full trust and faith that you can do all the proper care and proper cleaning work to maintain your hair cutting tools, we still however, recommend for all sharpening that you take your shears to a professional sharpening service from a trusted bladesmith. Sharpening should be done at least every 6 - 12 months pending how often you use your shears. And always remember when your hair scissors aren't in use, always put them in your protective case to prevent any damage to them!

So there we have it cutting fam! The proper cleaning methods to help your scissors last and always keep their cutting performance up to scratch well in this case up to cuts!